21 motorists were arrested for drunk driving on Big Isle roads last week in September: Big Island Now

Hawaii police continued their crackdown last week against those driving under the influence of intoxicants on Big Island roads.

As of Sept. 29, officers across the island had made a total of nearly 750 DUI arrests this year.

Big Island police arrested 21 motorists for drunk driving during the week of September 23-29; 6 were involved in traffic accidents and 2 were younger than 21 years.

As of Sunday, there have been a total of 741 drunk driving arrests this year, a 3.4% increase over the 717 made on the same date in 2023.

Police arrested the same number of motorists in the week of September 25 to October 21, 2023, five of whom were involved in traffic accidents and three of whom were under 21.

There were 725 drunk driving arrests as of October 1 last year, compared to 746 at the same time in 2022, a decrease of 2.7%.

Kona had the most DUI arrests last week with 10, followed by Hilo with 7. Puna had 3 and Ka'ū rounded out the total with 1.

Kona was also tied for the year with 265 DUI arrests at the end of last week. Hilo had a total of 220 and Puna was the only other county with triple digits at 156.

A review of all updated accidents by the Department of Transport Services found there had been 734 serious accidents on the island as of September 29, a 17.8% increase compared to 623 at the same time last year.

As of the end of last week, there have been a total of 21 fatal crashes and 23 fatalities on island roads in 2024.

These figures represent a 75% increase in fatal accidents and a 76.9% increase in deaths from the 12 fatal accidents and 13 fatalities recorded up to the same date in 2023.

The number of non-road fatalities, i.e. deaths that do not occur on public roads, remains at zero and is therefore at the same level as last year.

Road closures and patrols for drunk driving continue across the island.